White House blasts Zelaya for return to Honduras

Ed MorrisseyPosted at 3:36 pm on September 28, 2009

Well, well, well. It seems that the Obama administration may have some second thoughts about Manuel Zelaya after all. The US representative to the Organization of American States blasted Zelaya for slipping back into Honduras and precipitating a security crisis, and accused the former president of acting like he was “starring in an old movie”:

The United States blasted ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya for his “irresponsible and foolish” return from exile before a settlement was reached in the Central American country’s political crisis.

At an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States to discuss the Honduran face-off, Lewis Anselem, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, also criticized Honduras’ de facto government for its “deplorable” action in barring entry of an OAS mission and declaring a state of siege on Sunday.

Anselem also criticized Zelaya for fueling violence by slipping back into Honduras last week and holing up in the Brazilian Embassy, from where he has called on his supporters to take to the streets.

“The return of Zelaya absent an agreement is irresponsible and foolish … He should cease and desist from making wild allegations and from acting as though he were starring in an old movie,” Anselm said.

But if Zelaya is a bad actor, then the US has to take some of the blame for being a poor producer as well. After all, they encouraged Zelaya to become ever more aggressive, hailing him as the legitimate leader of Honduras even after it became plain that his removal was legal, even if his exile was not. That gave Zelaya all of the nudge he needed to issue ultimata that undermined the negotiations in Costa Rica and to re-enter Honduras and call for an uprising.